31, Mar 2015, EDT. Welcome to the beta version of Econ Stats, the Economic Statistics Database service provided by EconomyWatch.com.

Countries Included: All world countries, economic regions, geographical regionsYears Covered: From 1993 to 2014Indicators: Over 50 indicators from our database of 1,000 are currently display by Econ StatsData Sources: IMF, World Bank, UN, OECD, CIA World Factbook, Internet World Statistics, The Heritage Foundation and Transparency InternationalLast Updated: 17th March 2015

Lteracy rate, or the percentage of the population that can read, is an indicator that tends to follow life expectancy. As income (or GDP per Capita) increases, less children are taken out of school to work and more are able to complete basic school. As wealth further grows, the trend continues. Governments tend to boost health expenditure, followed by educational expenditure, leading to greater numbers of students continuing into high school and then university.

Literacy Rate, Educational Expenditure and School Life Expectancy - Economic Statistics By Country